Journeys at the Temple
by Unit Omicron
Summary: A group of young dragons begin their education at a small Dragon Temple in the middle of a swamp. What follows is a story of friendship, family, hostility, love and overcoming personal challenges. Written by Unit Omicron and FrostTheDragoness, features OCs from both authors. OC Crossover. Rated T for Language, Violence and Minor Adult Themes.


**Journeys at the Temple**

**Chapter 1**

Frost: Welp, here we are. Finally getting to it.

Xavier: Finally!

Nightshade: *hits xavier* No yelling!

Richter: Well, then. And I thought that this would be a civil matter…

Frost: Nope, that is impossible. Anything you want to say Unit?

Unit: Besides the fact that I waited too long to do this, nope. XD

Frost: That is too true. Never had the chance to start, due to life. T^T

Unit: Pretty much. Shall we get started, now?

Frost: Alrighty! Disclaimer!

Tamara: Neither Frost or Unit have any rights to the Legend of Spyro Video Game Series. All rights belong to their respective owners. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Nightshade: Hey! I was supposed to be frost's spoks-dragon..ess… So weird.

Tamara: :3

Nightshade: You are so mean. *pouts*

Richter: Perhaps we should get started and stop wasting our readers' time?

Xavier: That sounds like a good idea. I'm so flippin' excited for this!

Richter: Me too. Let's get going!

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **__**(Frost) -μονάδα όμικρο - (Unit)**_

For Nightshade and Xavier, it was a rare peaceful day. The sun was shining brightly down upon the Swamp, and the pair of dragons were just walking slowly around the bogs outside of the Dragon Temple, enjoying the time they could spend with each other. Xavier nuzzled Nightshade happily, not caring to look around. Nightshade, as bubbly as always, smiled her toothy grin at the purple next to her.

"It's great that we have time to us." Xavier said, uncharistically calm.

"The peace is getting to you already." Nightshade giggled.

Xavier chuckled. "I guess it is."

"You're not going to 'let the peace get to you' so easily, are you, Xavier?" a voice suddenly sounded from the right of Xavier.

Xavier jumped and gave the speaker a glare. "Shut it."

The dragon that had spoken to the purple dragon laughed and shrugged slightly, as he said, "If you two really wanted some privacy, maybe you shouldn't have only walked a quarter of a mile away from the Temple."

"Be nice to them for once, Thane. Why did you drag me along in the first place?" said another dragoness, who was trailing from behind Thane.

Thane quickly whirled around and gave the dragoness a slight wink. "Because I thought you'd want to see me bust these two during their little...honeymoon, Niere."

The electricity dragoness sighed and shook her head, as he said, "I thought you said that this was going to be more important, Thane. Instead, I'm dragged out to see you fail miserably at something that even Tamara could have done better."

Thane gave Niere a mocking look of being offended, and said, "Why, Niere...you wound me!"

Xavier glared at Thane, a look of irritation plastered on his face. Nightshade's face turned red.

"What is your issue Thane!?" Nightshade snapped. "It's rude to follow anyone and pry into their personal lives!"

Nightshade hit Thane. Xavier facepawed. Thane quickly fell onto the ground at Nightshade's hit and rubbed his head with his front right paw.

"You're a dumb ass, Thane." Xavier muttered.

Nightshade continued to glare at Thane.

The Ice Dragon slowly picked himself up off the ground and mouthed a quick "I'm sorry" before he took off, out of the clearing, leaving the three remaining dragons to fend for themselves.

Niere sighed and shook her head, looking up at Xavier and Nightshade, as she said, "Sorry about that slag-head. He's a goof, but a good friend to all of us. Sorry for disturbing you."

Nightshade calmed down, her face red. Xavier facepawed again.

"He can be great company. But sometimes, he goes a bit beyond the line." Xavier muttered.

Nightshade took a deep breath. "I'll go apologize to Thane. For hitting him. That was mean of me."

Xavier sighed. "Why do I even try?"

Niere put up a paw, a symbol for Nightshade to stop. "There's no need to do that, Nightshade," The gray-scaled dragoness said slowly, "Thane needs to learn his lesson. I'll have Richter talk to the slag-head later."

Nightshade nodded slowly. Xavier immediately embraced the small black.

Niere smiled slightly, a rare thing for the electricity dragoness to do, and said, "I'll leave you two alone. Sorry for intruding, again." and with those words, the gray dragoness took off, heading for the same direction that Thane had gone moments before; back to the Temple.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜**_

A little over a half an hour passed by the time the two arrived at the Temple. Nightshade and Xavier were greeted by all their friends and family, minus Niere and Thane, who seemed to be away from the main group at that time. Nightshade tackled Cynder with a smile.

"What are we going to do with you?" Cynder joked.

"I don't know." Nightshade replied.

Cynder laughed. "I'm sure with all of us, we can figure it out."

Nightshade gave her sister a mock pouting face. "You're mean, sissy."

Cynder looked at the little black with confusion. "Mean? No one can be more mean than you."

An Earth Dragon in the room, Richter, smirked and said, "I beg to differ. I know plenty of people that can manage to be more mean than Cynder."

"Like me, pebbles for brains?" said an Ice Dragoness that stood behind Richter, Tamara.

Richter chuckled slightly and nuzzled the Ice Dragoness' muzzle, and said, "Not at all, snowy."

Haze spoke up. "Oh really? I bet I can be-"

"Let me stop you right there. You are the least scary of us all." Wisp pointed out.

Haze whined. Wisp hit the shadow guardian in the head.

"You are such a child." Wisp groaned.

Haze pouted. Toxinia and Dominex glared at each other.

A fire dragon near the middle of the room shook his head at the scene around him. The Guardians were an interesting bunch, that much was certain. Tyron had never seen a more different group of allies before. Haze and Wisp were a loving pair of dragons, and had their children's' best interests at heart. Tyron was impressed by that end. He had never expected any Guardian, especially the one of shadow, to be as friendly and hospitable as they had been.

But...then there was Toxinia and Dominex. They fought constantly, despite the rumour that Tyron had heard they were mates. The Fire Dragon had no idea what to think of that, but tried to put the thought from his mind. Toxinia was very skilled in the Poison element, and Dominex knew what he was doing in the realm of the fear element. They could both be looked up to, except for their personalities.

Nightshade had a devilish grin on her face and turned the two glaring guardians. She used a bit of fear on Dominex, who took off running and screaming. Toxinia shot a glare at the little black, which was met by a glare from Wisp. Ignitus facepawed. Xavier and Spyro both stifled their laughter.

"I win again!" Nightshade yelled happily.

Xavier couldn't hold it back any more and bust out laughing. "That was too damn funny!"

Ignitus gave Xavier a warning glare. Xavier didn't't pay any attention. He was laughing too hard. Nightshade turned and tackled Tyron. The Fire Dragon was thrown backwards at the black dragoness' tackle, and the pair ended up with Tyron on his back and Nightshade staring him directly in the eyes.

"Hi!" she cheered. "How are you?"

Tyron groaned for a moment before looking up at his tackler and smiling brightly. The fire dragon said, "Doing just fine, Nightshade. How are you on this fine day?"

"I'm great! maybe later we could pull a prank on Tox and Dom." She said with a mischievous glint in her violet eyes. "How about that?"

Tyron laughed and said, "You really enjoy doing that too much. But...I'll take you up on that...later."

Nightshade grinned her toothy grin. "Yay! They mess with me and Xave all the time, so, it's time for payback."

"Sounds good. Can you get of me now?" Tyron said with a slight smirk.

Nightshade pouted. "Awwww, but-but i is comfy!"

"Alright, alright...fine…"

Richter shook his head at the exchange, and motioned for Tamara to follow him. The pair of dragons then quickly left the room, which they hoped wouldn't be noticed by any of the dragons in the room.

Nightshade perked up, hearing the retreating footsteps. The little black hopped to the ground. Nightshade shrugged it off and ran up to her mom and dad. Haze picked up the little black and Wisp snuck up on Cynder and scooped the black and magenta dragoness into a hug. The wind guardian retreated back to her spot next to Haze. Xavier hugged Ignitus, happy to have at least a dad.

Tyron smiled at the dragons in the room, and quietly excused himself. It wasn't his place to interfere in the Guardians' families' business. As he walked away, the thought came to his mind about the whereabouts of Tamara, Richter, Niere and Thane. The Fire Dragon hurried his pace, hoping to find any of the dragons that he called his friends.

Nightshade frowned. Alkean and Hirvea, not fighting for once, exchanged a glance.

"Alright! Shade, Head to the Training arena. You've got a lot of training to catch up on." Alklean announced.

Hirvea scowled. "Get going too, Spyro. You've got a lot of work to do as well."

-μονάδα όμικρο -

Tyron slowed his pace slightly, getting tired from the walking. He had been looking for any of his friends from Draxis for at least an hour now. He was beginning to lose any hope of finding any of them. The group of dragons had come together from their home village of Draxis, which was situated about thirty miles directly south of the Dragon Temple. It was a small village, but had been enjoying a short period of peace. Richter's father, Peron, and the leader of the settlement, had sent the small group of dragons to the temple to learn more about their elements and get trained by the famous Guardians of the Dragon Temple. Tyron had thoroughly enjoyed the experience, it had given him the chance to meet new Dragons like Xavier and Nightshade. Tyron liked both of the pair, especially Nightshade. The black dragoness had been very welcoming in his stay, along with her sister, Cynder. Tyron had not talked much to Cynder and Spyro, Cynder's good friend, and did not know much about either of their backgrounds. He still liked all four of his new friends all the same.

Tyron rounded a corner and quickly stopped, hearing voices. The Fire Dragon edged carefully along the close wall, hoping to not catch the individual's attention. He was in the dormitory wing, where each of the dragons could sleep at night. The voices were coming from a door on the right-hand side of the hallway. Tyron edged cautiously towards the door, and opened it silently and efficiently.

"-that doesn't give any reason to do something like that." a voice suddenly sounded from inside the room. It sounded like Niere's; a low, but feminine and familiar voice to Tyron.

"I know. Believe me, that wasn't my intention." came another voice from the interior. It was easily placeable, Thane. Thane had a low and gruff voice; it didn't fit the Ice Dragon's happy-go-lucky personality at all.

"Then, have we come to an understanding?" said Niere.

"Yeah. I'll apologize to them, by sundown tonight. I don't think they'll even want to see me by then, anyways."

"We'll see. Now, get out of my room. I have things I need to do."

Tyron shifted away from the door as Thane walked out and closed the door behind him. Lucky for the Fire Dragon, Thane headed in the opposite direction of Tyron, probably heading for another part of the Temple. Tyron breathed a sigh of relief and waited by the door for a few moments, before knocking on the door to Niere's dormitory and waiting.

There was a grunt on the other side, and a motioning of paws. The door opened and Niere stood in the doorway, and grunted again at Tyron. The Electricity Dragoness said, "What, Tyron? Can't you see I'm busy?"

Tyron gulped down his nerves, and said, "I was just wondering...what was that exchange with Thane all about?"

Niere narrowed her eyes, and said, "What, were you eavesdropping or something?"

"Ye...yes…"

"I figured. It doesn't concern you, Tyron. Go away." and with that, Niere slammed the door in the stunned Fire Dragon's face. Tyron shook his head and walked slowly away from the door, discouraged.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜**_

Xavier walked to his room to wait for Nightshade. The light purple yawned.

"Ugh…. that was a looooong day…" Xavier yawned again.

"Could have been longer." Spyro muttered.

"I guess. Tox is a slave driver, damn it. I hurt every where…" Xavier complained.

Spyro just shook his head. Xavier stopped.

"Is it just me or are you seeing things too?" Xavier wondered.

"You need to get some sleep." Spyro said quietly.

Spyro facepawed when Xavier fell asleep walking, like always. Spyro never did understood the two. Nightshade was friendly enough, but Spyro never really tried to get to know anyone. His head was always too full of questions that had no answers. Sure, things were peaceful now, but how long would it last? Probably not for long, knowing how things are. The calm before the storm, which was more often than not. At least to Spyro, anyways. He had far too much time to think, and no way to slow them all down. Spyro shook his head again, as if he could get rid of the unwanted thoughts. The dark purple frowned. He knew the questions couldn't be answered. But he still tried, every day. He ignored the questions and focused on getting Xavier to his room. He decided that he wouldn't give up, since after the fight with Xavier in convexity. Spyro admitted that, even though Xavier was lazy, temperamental, impatient and even childish, the light purple was strong in his own way. Spyro smirked, remembering the joke about Toxinia being worried. He chuckled softly, a rare sound for him. Xavier jolted awake.

"The hell? Why did you let me fall asleep like that? Damn it!" Xavier cursed.

Spyro smirked. "You looked so peaceful."

"Ha ha, very funny, dude." Xavier snapped.

Spyro chuckled. "I'd say it is funny. You were sleepwalking. It was hilarious."

The two purples joked and laughed. Not even stopping when they reached Xaviers room. The two just sat in front of the door, acting like friends would.

_**-μονάδα όμικρο- 〜**__***フロスト**__***〜**_

Tyron wasn't able to find the other dragons from his group and retired to his chambers early.

The Fire Dragon hadn't considered the idea that maybe the other dragons did not want to be found.

Another pair of dragons, Richter and Tamara sat on the grand balcony at the same moment that Spyro and Xavier were talking outside of their rooms. Richter was lying down on the marble surface, a wing over Tamara who sat comfortably by his side. Stars shone overhead and light from each of the Celestial Moons came cascading down in vibrant, white waves.

Tamara moved her head away from the stars and stared at Richter for a moment, comfortable with his company. The two dragons had slipped away from the others and had wandered the temple for a few hours, doing what normal teenaged dragons would do in their spare time.

Now they sat, enjoying each other's presence.

Tamara's attention returned back to the Earth Dragon who was now staring her directly in the eyes. Richter smiled at the Ice Dragoness, not saying a word. Tamara smiled back and traced one of her claws up and down Richter's back. The claw sent cool feelings up and down the Earth Dragon's back.

Richter smiled at Tamara and began to lean in towards her muzzle. Tamara returned the motioned, closed her eyes and-

"Dinner time! Get your tails to the Grotto! For the sake of us all, Do it!" Nightshade yelled, Running down the hall.

Tamara quickly shot up, away from Richter. Richter chuckled softly and moved to return to his feet.

The Earth Dragon stated, "We should probably do what she says...who knows what she'll do if she catches us like this."

Tamara nodded and stood back up. Richter placed his wing around her once more, and the couple began walking towards the Grotto. The pair walked in to most, if not all, of the rest of the dragons sitting down to eat.

Nightshade flew into the room. "Okay. I told everyone!"

Xavier was facepawing as he walked in. Spyro was as quiet as ever. Nightshade flew around, extremely hyper. Haze, of course, Tried to join his daughter in flying around the room. Wisp stopped him by stepping on his tail and giving a look that says, 'Do it, and I will throw you into a wall and then toss you out into the cold.', Which worked. Haze whistled innocently. Wisp took a bit of one of the many rost deers.

"So, is everyone having fun!?" Nightshade chattered, overly excited.

Xavier and Spyro facepalmed. Cynder shook her head. Volteer and Cyril exchanged a look.

Ignitus just sighed.

Tamara simply shrugged and went to eat. Richter chuckled slightly at the black dragoness' exuberance, and said, "We're just fine, Nightshade. But, thank you for asking."

Tamara shot a glance at the Earth Dragon for a moment, before turning away.

"Did I upset someone?" Nightshade asked, sounding a bit down.

Richter laughed and said, "Not at all. Tamara's just a bit moody tonight." The statement earned another glare from the Ice Dragoness, but still she said nothing.

Nightshade landed. "I'm sorry if I upset anyone..."

Xavier looked sadly at Nightshade. The light purple walked up to Nightshade.

"Hey, it's okay. Come on. You can come hang with me and Spy." Xavier said, trying to comfort his love.

"Sorry, Nightshade. It's just something between Richter and I." added in Tamara.

Tyron watched from one side at the commotion. He was normally one to be sitting right in the middle of everything, but this time around, he simply observed. The Fire Dragon chuckled quietly to himself and moved to eat his own meal.

Alklean and Hirvea got into another fight, causing a bit of mayhem at the same time. Nightshade Hit both of them as hard as she could then walked away. Both of the hatchlings growled at each other. A electricity dragoness with light blue lightning shaped marks walked up.

"Hello everyone! Good to see you all." She spoke almost as fast as Volteer, but was much easier to understand. "Ooo, Dinner! Certainly smells good."

"I'll say. Smells good! Race you to it, Tes!" another voice boomed through the Grotto. It came from an older looking Wind Dragoness who had white scales and a more silver-shaded underbelly. The Wind Dragoness shot off, racing towards the food.

Teslaria raced off. "That's no fair! You got the head start, Merri!"

"You snooze, you lose!" Merridor shot back.

Teslaria used her smaller build to her advantage and raced forward, reaching the food first.

"Ha! I win, Merri!" Teslaria joked, Taking two chunks. "I'll save you a piece."

"Hey, no fair! I call a redo!" shouted the Wind Dragoness.

"Nope. I won fair and square." Teslaria laughed. "So ha. that's that. Now hurry up before it gets cold."

Merridor grumbled for a few moments before walking over to where Teslaria was and silently taking the meal from her. The two dragonesses sat with each other, and talked amongst themselves for the rest of the time.

Nightshade let out a loud burp. "'scuse me!"

Xavier laughed. "You are strange at times."

Nightshade looked at Xavier. "And you aren't? You're the one who thinks about nothing more than eating and sleeping."

"And you have near constant mood swings." Xavier snapped.

"At least I don't have a foul mouth and even worse temper." Nightshade snapped back.

Xavier snorted. "And? I'm not overly bubbly and-"

"Don't you DARE finish that sentence. So help me I will kick your tail into next week!" Nightshade yelled.

"And they get into yet another fight." Wisp muttered.

Richter sighed to himself, shaking his head at the bickering pair of mates. For as much as the two loved each other, they seemed to have issues with getting along at times.

"Reminds me you and Tamara at times." said a voice from the right side of Richter, Niere being the speaker.

"What is that supposed to mean, Niere?" said Richter.

"You used to tease her like that. You still do, in fact. I'm not sure why mates do it so often…"

"If you ever find a mate, you'll-"

"Ain't never gonna' happen." and with those words, the Electricity Dragoness walked away, heading for Tyron on the other side of the Grotto. Richter shook his head once more and continued eating.

"I am so tired of you always talking about food, or the repetitive apes, or any of that!" Nightshade yelled.

"And you think I give two shits from a flying ape's ass!? No! I don't!" Xavier raged.

"That's it! I'm done, damn it! I'm done listening to your ancestor-damned attitude!" Nightshade hit Xavier and left, dragging a almost whole deer with her.

Cynder shot a glare at the light purple. "Try being a bit more sensitive.

Spyro hit Xavier as well. "That was harsh."

Tyron sighed, and excused himself from his short conversation with Niere. He said softly, "I'll go talk to her." Niere nodded absent-mindedly back at the Fire Dragon. Tyron rounded the corner out of the Grotto and continued down the hallway, taking off after the small black dragoness.

Tamara walked over to Xavier and put a paw on his shoulder, saying, "You shouldn't get so worked up like that."

Xavier moved away. "Don't give me that, 'don't get worked up.' crap."

The light purple left the room. Ignitus sighed and stood up.

"Don't mind him, young dragoness. He's often like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with my son." Ignitus slowly trailed Xavier. Tamara shook her head at the Fire Guardian's words and walked back to Richter, eating the rest of her meal in silence.

The Grotto fell silent.

"I'm so sorry you all had to see that. It's not often that happens, but they do escalate quickly." Wisp sighed.

Haze looked serious for once. "If you'll excuse me."

The shadow guardian left the room.

"There goes the relaxing dinner that took forever to put together." Alklean muttered.

Hirvea scowled. "All that energy used to catch those dumb beasts, wasted…"

Richter spoke up at this point, saying, "It wasn't a waste, Hirvea. I appreciate it, truly. I hadn't eaten today until now."

Hirvea shook his head. "You know how much Corruption that needed?"

"Don't mind Hirvea. He's in a extremely grumpy mood." Alklean smiled. "Ignitus makes great deer. Don't you agree?"

"Absolutely. Ignitus has a real knack for that. He's even better than Tyron and my father, and that's saying something." said Richter.

Alklean stood up. "Mr. Grumpy is lucky he can attack with his element. At least, in my opinion. Not that it counts any."

Richter chuckled and said, "It does, I'm sure."

"Me and Hirvea aren't taken too seriously. We are only seven." Alklean sighed.

"It's amazing to think that Guardians could be so young, but I'm not one to argue that point...you have skill in your elements, and I respect both of you for that." stated Richter.

Alklean grinned. "You have talent yourself. As well as the rest of your friends. You all learn pretty fast."

Richter smiled at the compliment and nodded his head. The dull gold guardian helped himself to more of the deer, making sure to get a piece for the darker guardian as well.

"So boring just sitting here…. Need some kind of action." Hirvea groaned.

Alklean facepawed. "You're an idiot at times."

"I'd be willing to take you up on that offer." Niere said, smirking at Hirvea.

Hirvea grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Hirvea stood up and headed towards the training arena.

Niere nodded and began to follow the young Guardian. However, she was physically stopped by something from behind her. The Electricity Dragoness quickly wheeled around and found herself face to face with a frowning Fire Dragon.

"You don't need to flaunt your powers like this, Niere." said a frowning Tyron.

Niere shrugged off the Fire Dragon's paw and continued walking towards the training arena, but not before she said, "You're not my guardian ash-head. Find something better to do."

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **__**-μονάδα όμικρο-**_

Niere and Hirvea walked down the hall towards the arena and opened each door. Hirvea walked to one side of the ring, Niere to the other, as the grand dragon statue in the center of the room began to descend down below the floor once again.

"How about a little challenge first?" Hirvea grinned.

Niere smirked back. "Let's see what you can throw at me, big boy."

"Alright. Here's the challenge; whoever beats the most waves with in 20 minutes wins and can choose the next challenge. But…" By this time Hirvea has the look of a mad dragon. "Neither of us are aloud to use our elements."

Niere simply shrugged and said, "Bring. It. On."

Hirvea dropped into a fighting stance as a good twenty dummies appeared.

"Wave one." Alklean announced.

Hirvea grinned and got ready to charge.

"Go!" Alklean shouted.

Hirvea charged right down the center of the formation. The dummies barely had time to move before a quarter of them were shredded. Hirvea make quick work of the first wave, having built up his non-elemental combat skills.

Alklean sighed. "I'm done with this."

Niere walked up to the Guardian and smiled, "You really are jealous of him, aren't ya?"

Alklean looked at the ground. "No. I feel sorry for him. Not what you would expect, what with me and him being opposites and all…"

"Why is that?" Niere inquired.

"He had no one. No teacher. Mother always liked me because I was her 'little purity guardian'. Father left when we were one. He has no one. And you've seen how that turned out for him." Alklean explained quietly.

Niere nodded as she watched Hirvea continue to bash in the training dummies. "I didn't have any siblings, and my parents were the same way. They always wanted me to be 'perfect', but I never wanted any part of it. I'm sorry to see someone else had to know that kind of torment too."

"I've tried to get him to warm up. To give him a friend, but he's too far gone…." Alklean murmured.

Niere put a paw on the Guardian's shoulder, in an uncommon show of emotion. "He has friends."

"But he doesn't believe that." Alklean muttered.

"You need to give your brother some time. I think he's still adjusting to having people around him that support him. I had to do that too, while I was first growing up."

"With him, I'm not too sure. He just got worse and worse. And something eventually snapped in him." Alklean looked at his twin.

"Hm. What do you mean by that?" questioned Niere.

"He just lost it. He started losing his mind." Alklean turned his head towards Niere. "I want to help him…. But I can't. And I hate myself for it."

Niere looked the Guardian in the eyes and said, "Yes, you can. Trust me, you can. You just have to talk to him."

Alklean shook his head. "I've tried."

Hirvea walked up and gave a grin. "Ten waves. Beat that."

Niere shook her head slightly and turned to face Hirvea. "I can beat you, Hirvea, just you watch." And with that, the Electricity Dragoness shoved past the Guardians and began her session in the training ring.

Hirvea scoffed at Niere's claim. Alklean hit the guardian of corruption. Hirvea glared at the dull gold dragon.

"Don't be a smartass, Hirvea." Alklean stated.

"Wouldn't you know all about that, Alky." Hirvea laughed.

Alklean glared at the darker colored dragon and snarled. "Shut up or I'll kick your butt, Brother."

Hirvea was slightly taken aback by the word 'Brother'. Alklean payed no attention and scratched at the ground.

Niere, meanwhile, was having the time of her life in the ring. The Electricity Dragoness, usually used to using her elements, was enjoying the time to get into her opponents faces and bash their skulls in. The dummies were modeled after lowly grublins, nothing she couldn't handle, and Niere was actually enjoying herself. The young dragoness smashed enemy after enemy with her razor sharp claws, ripping arms, legs and heads off as pieces of her opponents flew around the ring. After a few minutes, Niere sat standing in the middle of a ruined practice ring, panting, with nothing left standing around her. The dragoness glanced over, in the direction of Hirvea, and grinned.

"How did I do, big boy?" Niere asked.

Hirvea was too stunned to talk. Alklean sighed.

"You took on nearly 22 waves with time to spare. Hirvea isn't used to being beaten." Alklean grinned.

"Given that he's a Guardian, that doesn't surprise me." Niere stated with a smirk.

Alklean chuckled. "Come on. Let's go back-"

Nightshade came in about that time.

"Oops! Sorry, for the interruption. I'll just go." Nightshade stuttered.

Alklean chuckled again. "Going to get in a bit of training?"

"Yeah. Before going to bed." The little black smiled nervously.

Alklean nodded to Nightshade. "Go ahead."

Niere nodded at the group, smirked once more at Hirvea, and began to leave the room. Hirvea and Alklean followed, and both Guardians exited the room.

Nightshade watched Niere leave. "Um, Niere?" Nightshade called hesitantly.

Niere turned around before she left, looking at the black dragoness and saying, "Hey, Nightshade. Do you need something?"

Nightshade shuffled her paws. "Could you stay here with me? I don't like being alone…."

Niere smiled and nodded. "Of course, that's fine. I'm not really going to do anything right now, anyways." she said.

Nightshade let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Niere." The little black gave the grey dragoness a smile. "Makes me feel safer with some one else around."

Niere walked up next to the smaller black dragoness, smiling as she said, "I can understand that."

"I wouldn't have asked, but I've been getting nightmares a lot and they seem so real…and it scares me. A lot." Nightshade muttered.

"What do you mean?" Niere inquired.

"The nightmares seem so real…" Nightshade started to cry. "In the nightmares, my mom, dad, everyone are ether getting hurt or killed till it's just me and sparx." By the end of her explanation, Nightshade was sobbing. "It's so scary."

Niere, acting like an older sister that wasn't there, put a wing over the black dragoness. "I'm sorry to hear that. Just remember, we're all still here, and nightmares aren't real. Richter, Tamara, Tyron, your sister, Spyro, everyone...we're not going anywhere." she said with a smile.

Nightshade just continued to cry, not being able to stop. The little black hugged Niere.

"I want the nightmares to stop… But they won't!" Nightshade wailed.

Niere silently hugged the black dragoness back, not wanting to say anything else that could upset her any further. After almost half an hour, the little black fell asleep.

"Hello, Niere. How has your day been?" Cynder's voice sounded from the entrance.

Niere put a claw up to her maw, a signal for the dragoness to quiet her voice down. The gray dragoness then motioned with her claw to the sleeping black dragoness next to her, and motioned once more for the black dragoness to sit down by her side. Cynder sighed and shook her head, but sat with Niere nonetheless.

"Had an episode?" Cynder whispered.

Niere sighed and nodded her head, and said, "Yeah. I've never seen her break down like that. I hate to see her like this…"

"She doesn't like when others worry about her, so she holds it in till she's either with me or Xavier." Cynder sighed and went to her sister. "It's been worse lately. More and more. Each time, both me and Xavier are on the verge of a mental breakdown just hearing about them. It's frightening." Cynder pulled her sister into a hug.

Niere raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side, saying, "What could be causing the spike all of a sudden, and why is she opening up to me at this moment? Why not Richter or Tamara? I don't exactly have the best reputation…"

"It's been getting worse since you all came. That you'll have to ask her." Cynder grinned. "She talks in her sleep. Figured that out a bit ago. Can have a conversation with her and she won't remember it when she wakes up."

"Really?" Niere chuckled. "That's interesting. I'll need to ask her about it later…"

"She won't have a clue what you're talking about as far as I know." Cynder pointed out. "Best to see for yourself."

"Hmph. We'll see."

Cynder looked down at Nightshade. "Will you be alright?"

"I think so…" Nightshade muttered, still sleeping like a rock.

"You aren't having another nightmare, are you?" Cynder asked.

"Nuh uh…" The little black muttered again.

Cynder looked at Niere and grinned slightly. "Told you."

Niere simply raised an eyebrow once more and shook her head at the black dragoness. They were certainly an interesting pair, the two sisters. Niere had never seen a pair of dragonic siblings get along as well as Cynder and Nightshade. Niere had no siblings of her own, but she still liked the values of family, especially those not her own.

Nightshade opened her eyes.

"Sissy!" The little black smiled and hugged Cynder.

"Hello to you too." Cynder said simply.

Nightshade looked at Niere. "Sorry for just bursting out and crying like I did."

Niere nodded at the black dragoness, smiling as she said, "It's not a problem. Although, there's something I wanted to ask you about that…"

"What's that?" Nightshade tilted her head.

"Well, Cynder mentioned while you were dozing off that you normally only trust her and Xavier with these things…" Niere looked down at the ground as she spoke, suddenly interested in her claws. "Why would you trust me with such personal...issues? I don't exactly have the best reputation around the temple."

Nightshade thought for a moment. "I trust you. You're my friend too, right?"

Niere nodded at the black dragoness, and said slowly, "Yes, but...we've only just met recently. I would think that you would trust someone like Tamara or Richter with something like that, not me."

"I trust all my friends. And I had to tell someone, and with sissy not being around…You know what happens then." Nightshade gave a sheepish smile.

Niere chuckled and nodded, but remained silent.

"Plus, I'm too mad at Xavier right now." Nightshade had a pouting expression.

Niere nodded at the black dragoness, smirking as she said, "I bet. Maybe I should go get him…? I need to talk to Thane before retires for the night, anyways."

Nightshade thought about it. "Nah. But you can go now, if you want."

"Sorry about that. Thane needs a scolding." Niere nodded at both dragonesses and slowly exited the room, heading for the dormitory wing.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **_

Xavier paced back and forth on the balcony adjacent to the grotto. He cursed loudly, beyond frustrated.

"GAH! Why the hell does it always have to end up like this!? I'm fucking sick of this shit!" the light purple said to no one in particular.

Xavier continued pacing and cursing.

"That was really, really harsh, Xavier." A calm, quiet voice stated.

"Why do you give a shit, Spy?" Xavier snapped.

"Because, I do." Spyro snapped back. "You are my friend and Nightshade is your mate. You shouldn't be fighting."

Xavier snorted. "Tell her that."

"Tell who what?" Cynder asked as she approached.

Xavier growled. "Sisouar. Who the fuck else?"

"Don't snap at my sister! I will kick you so hard, you won't be sitting right for a week!" Nightshade yelled.

"I'll snap at who ever the hell I want to!" Xavier yelled.

Nightshade ran up to the light purple and smacked him.

"No! I'm done listening to you taking your anger out on everyone else!" Nightshade yelled back. "I try to joke with you and you go and throw it over the side like it's nothing! I try to give you a compliment and you shove it back in my face than basicly say it's nothing! I'm done! I can't do this any more." Nightshade felt tears fall down her cheeks.

Cynder and Spyro glanced at each other, making hasty excuses as they went back to grotto, supposedly to talk with the others that were still there.

Xavier Looked at Nightshade. He didn't say a word. Nightshade had her head in her paws as she cried for the second time that day. Xavier sighed and lifted the little black's chin.

"I'm sorry that I made you angry." Xavier said quietly.

Nightshade looked up at Xavier and sniffled. "I-it's okay. I'm sorry for being such a drama queen."

Xavier smiled slightly. "You know I love you, right?"

Nightshade giggled. "And you are such a cheese ball."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Xavier had a full out grin.

"Yes it is." Nightshade giggled again.

Xavier leaned in to nuzzle his love. Nightshade beat him to it and instead kissed the light purple.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **__**-μονάδα όμικρο-**_

Niere was not normally a dragon to be looking for someone right before she retired to her chambers, but the gray dragoness was seeking someone that needed her words. Thane had made mistakes in the past, but nothing quite of this caliber. Thane, like Niere, was prideful from his nature, but Niere knew when to...restrain herself.

The gray dragoness rounded the corner outside of the dormitory wing and stood outside of the Ice Dragon's dormitory. Niere stood outside of the door for a moment, a paw up to the wooden entryway, hesitating. Niere and Thane had always gotten along, but…

Suddenly, the door opened and Thane came walking out, and ran right into the Electricity Dragoness. Both dragons fell to the stone floor on top of each other with an audible 'OOF' coming from both maws.

Thane looked down at the dragoness and grinned, saying, "Just couldn't stay away, could ya?"

Niere scoffed and said, "You wish. Now, get off me."

"I don't know...I'm pretty comfortable here…" Thane stated with a smirk.

Not waiting for the Ice Dragon, Niere propelled herself off of the floor and sent Thane flying off of her back. The Ice Dragon landed a few feet away, but returned to his feet quickly.

He turned around and glared at Niere, saying, "That was a bit uncalled for."

"Right. I came here to talk to you about earlier."

Thane shrugged and said, "I haven't seen either of them all night. Perhaps they're doing...mate things?"

Niere hit the sarcastic male on the top of the head with the back of her paw as she said, "Shut it, icicle head. You made a mistake earlier, and I expect you to own up for it."

"I know, I know. I just...I don't know how they'll react…"

"Xavier and Nightshade are smarter and friendlier than you give them credit. Now, I'm retiring for the evening, and if I don't hear that you apologized by tomorrow morning, you and I are going to have some serious issues. Do you understand me, icicle head?"

Thane placed a paw to his head in a sort of mock salute, and said, "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

Niere shook her head and walked away, heading for her own dormitory. Thane returned the act and began retreating in the opposite direction, hoping to find Xavier and Nightshade somewhere in the temple.

The Ice Dragon had to wander for quite some time. He did not know the pair of mates as well as some of the other dragons in the Temple, and did not know where they liked to be during mid-evenings. Thane eventually found himself in the Grotto, where a few of the Guardians were still sitting and chatting amongst themselves. Thane nodded to a few of them, but eventually found himself in front of Wisp and Haze, the parents of Cynder and Nightshade.

Thane bowed to both Guardians and inquired, "Good evening to the both of you. By chance, have you happened to have seen Xavier and Nightshade recently?"

"No, but Cynder may have." Wisp said gently. "She's over there if you want to speak with her." The wind guardian pointed to Cynder, who was across the room.

Thane nodded respectfully at the Wind Guardian and turned around, walking towards the black dragoness. Thane came up behind her and cleared his throat, hoping to catch her attention.

"Hello. Can I help you?" Cynder looked at Thane.

Thane bowed once more and said, "I apologize for bothering you, Cynder, but do you happen to know where Nightshade and Xavier are?"

Yes. They are actually fixing their problem. I'll let them know you are looking for them." Cynder smiled as she stood up.

"Thank you, Cynder. I appreciate it." Thane said, nodding at the black dragoness. The Ice Dragon walked back towards the center of the Grotto and planted himself down, waiting for Cynder to return.

Moments later, Cynder came back back, followed by Nightshade and Xavier.

"What's up Thane?" Nightshade asked cheerfully.

"'Sup?" Xavier asked.

Thane swallowed in his nerves for a moment and bowed his head, and said, "I...wanted to apologize...to both of you."

"For what?" Nightshade asked.

"For intruding earlier, during your walk. It was uncalled for, and I ruined a moment for you two."

"It's fine." Both Nightshade and Xavier said in unison.

Thane sighed and nodded at both dragons, as he said, "Thank you. That was a bit easier than I expected…"

"You think he would know us well enough by now." Xavier joked.

Nightshade just shrugs.

Thane, not hearing the exchange between the two dragons, retreated away from the Grotto and went back to his dormitory, eventually retiring for the night.

Wisp shook her head. "I think we should all be heading to sleep."

Haze yawned and stood up. "It is getting late."

Xavier looked at Nightshade. "Come on. Let's try to get some sleep."

Nightshade agreed reluctantly and followed Xavier.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **__**-μονάδα όμικρο-**_

Teslaria glared at the fish in the water, sitting at the edge of the Silver River not far from the temple.

"Stupid fish." The yellow dragoness muttered.

Teslaria stood up with a sigh, ready to head back to the temple.

"What's wrong?" said a voice from Teslaria's right side, belonging to Merridor.

"Can't catch any of the ancestor cursed fish. They keep getting away!" Teslaria's head dropped.

Merridor grinned and stated, "Step back." Teslaria complied with the demand, and Meridor took action. The natural Wind Dragoness launched a small cyclone from her maw, churning up the shallow waters on the banks of the mighty river, and washed up whatever was just below the surface.

Which happened to include three pike.

Meridor caught one of the flopping fish in her maw and walked up to Teslaria. "Impressed?" she asked sarcastically.

Teslaria's head dropped more. "It's no fair…" Her voice dripping with sadness. "I can't hunt, no matter how hard I try…"

Meridor dropped the fish on the ground and put a paw on the dragoness' shoulders. "You just need some training, is all," she said slowly," I can teach you, when we have some time. You'll be an amazing hunter in no time! Your element makes it easy to catch fish, when used in the right way. Trust me!"

Teslaria looked up at Meridor. "I'm still learning how to better control my element. Volteer is teaching me." Teslaria smirked at the memories.

"You and Volteer are a lot like," the Wind Dragoness said with a smile, "I bet training has been enjoyable with him."

Teslaria laughed a bit. "He's really confusing. He always uses so many different words. It's so confusing!" The yellow joked.

Merridor patted her on the shoulder and said, "See? All you need is to give it some time."

"My pa said he'd teach me when he can. But since he's off fighting, I don't really see him. He said he'd be coming here just for me today! You guys will get to meet my Pa and I can see him! Tomorrow's going to be the best day ever!" Teslaria rambled, talking a bit faster due to excitement.

Merridor grinned brightly, overjoyed at the happiness of her close friend. "I can't wait to meet him!" She said proudly, "He sounds like the best dragon ever!"

The yellow and blue dragoness hopped about happily. "This is gonna be the best!"

Merridor grinned happily and nodded. "Let's go back to the Temple. I'm sure they're all waiting for us, and we need to get some sleep before tomorrow." she said.

Teslaria nodded and half ran back to the temple wearing a huge smile.

Merridor simply chuckled to herself and walked slowly back to the Temple.

〜*フロスト*〜 -μονάδα όμικρο-

Back at the Temple, the day had finally winded down to a close. Most of the residents were now present in their dormitories, sleeping or simply quietly enjoying the time to themselves.

However, not everyone was present in their rooms.

On the Great Balcony that overlooked the mighty Silver River, two dragons sat, observing the Celestial Moons and the shining heavenly bodies overhead. The two moons, shining pink and light green, gazed down upon the Realms and cast their light over everything they were able to see.

"It's quite a magnificent sight, isn't it?" said Richter.

"It is. It's something that I'll never get tired of. We're blessed to live in such a beautiful world." said Tamara, who was lying down next to Richter with her head on his shoulder

"That it is." Richter stated calmly.

Tamara sighed contently, but there was still something bugging at her mind.

"Richter," She started, "What is Spyro's past? I mean, he seems troubled, a lot of the time, but no one ever says why."

Richter sighed and looked away from the Ice Dragoness for a moment. "Spyro has had some real...difficulties in his past. It's not something he's proud of, and he has not been able to get over the weight of his acts like Cynder has."

"I know that, but what did he do that made him like that?"

Richter once again sighed and looked over to Tamara, a look of sadness on his face. He said, "Tamara, have you ever heard the stories of the two dark generals of the Dark Master?"

"Of course I have, what does that have to do with them?"

"Tamara, Cynder and Spyro are the dark generals. Nightshade and Xavier had to defeat them in Convexity in order to free them from the grasp of the Dark Master."

Tamara became visibly shocked at the Earth Dragon's words, and began shivering slightly. Richter tightened his wing around her and pulled her closer.

"I...don't know what to say. I don't know how Cynder could live with a burden like that."

"She's able to put it in the past, but Spyro is not one that is easily able to forget his past actions. It was not his fault in the slightest, but he blames himself either way."

"Usually, it is considered rude to talk about someone behind their back." Both dragons jerked their head around to the doorway, only to see Spyro's head hanging down. He was perched on the roof like a gargoyle staring down at both of them now. He hopped down, landing and taking a few steps forward with practiced grace.

Cynder was standing at the door, her eyes a bit watery. "And to think we trusted you."

Spyro shook his head, a mask of anger on his face. "Is it fun talking about people's pasts? Is it worth it when they end up hurt!?" He was shouting by the time he ended his sentence.

Richter quickly stood up and walked up to Spyro, kneeling down before him, head bowed in shame. "I apologize, Spyro. I did not mean to insinuate anything. We are still your friend, I promise. Tamara just wants to help you, is all."

Tamara quickly followed the act and walked up to Cynder, placing her head on the black dragoness'. "I'm so sorry, Cynder...please, believe me...we weren't meaning any harm by what we said!" She said, almost to tears herself.

Spyro snorted. "Pity. Just like always!" The purple left with those words.

Cynder stayed silent, trying to believe Tamara. The black backed away.

Richter, not wanting to lose the purple dragon's trust, pursued after him. Tamara watched them go in silence, tears finally breaking from the corners of her eyes. The Ice Dragoness fell to the ground, sobbing as she did it. It was uncontrollable.

Cynder didn't know what to do or say. So she started to leave saying, "I-I'll get Nightshade… She k-knows how to handle this…"

Tamara could not hear the black dragoness over the sound of her own wailing. She felt like the world had suddenly and violently come down on top of her head.

Meanwhile, Richter continued to chase after Spyro as he fled the area.

"Spyro, please...stop!" he shouted at the purple dragon.

Spyro ignored the earth dragon and disappeared in the swamp surrounding the Temple.

While not wishing to lose the purple dragon, Richter stopped at the entrance to the swamp. He knew that losing Spyro could be disastrous, but he also realized that without help, he stood no chance of finding the purple dragon on his own.

"What are you doing out? It's rather late to be going for a relaxing walk." A husky voice asked.

Richter jumped, and turned around to observe the dragon that was now standing behind him.

The speaker was a light yellow dragon with steel colored wings and underbelly. The dragons horn was almost crescent shaped, the ends split like the tip of a harpoon, the other was broken in half. His tail spade was missing, as well a quarter of his tail. His eyes were the same orange as Teslaria.

"Well? Why are you out here?" He asked again.

"Spyro, the purple dragon, ran off. We were in a bit of an...argument. May I inquire as to who you are, sir?" Richter said.

"Axious. Captain of the second platoon defending against the dark armies." Axious stated with pride.

"I see, you're Teslaria's father? She has not stopped talking about you since early yesterday. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Richter."

"Yes. It's a pleasure, Richter."

"Thank you, Axious. While you're here, would you mind helping me find Spyro? He ran off...again."

Axious sighed. "I suppose." The yellow dragon disappeared into the swamp.

Richter nodded in the general direction of the retreating yellow form and went in an opposite direction himself.

Time to find a purple dragon.

_**〜**__***フロスト**__***〜 **__**-μονάδα όμικρο-**_

Unit: So, here we are at the end of this chapter…

Tamara: I thought it went pretty well.

Richter: Spyro's about ready to kill me! You consider that 'pretty well'?

Tamara: *Shrugs*

Nightshade: Heh… he's like that.

Xave: Except around-

Nightshade: You. I was woken up because of that!

Spyro: And?

Nightshade: Stop making it so Cyn has to keep waking me up!

Unit: Sorry! That was Frost's decision.

Frost: Hey! Shadow started it all!

Teslaria: You decided to add more unnessasarry drama. Though, now that i think about it, you are very good at drama.

Unit: Frost is good with that. Maybe it's because she's a girl…

Frost: *Hits Unit* Shut dafuq up.

Cynder: That's a bit unnecessary.

Unit: Ow...that hurt.

Tyron: Anyways…thanks for reading Chapter 1 to Journeys at The Temple! Chapter 2 should be coming at you soon!

Teslaria & Merri: Leave a review! Till next time!


End file.
